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When Gavin heard that there was going to be a new transfer from the neighboring district, he didn’t really think much of it. Rumors has it that Anderson has been assigned as their partner to tackle android related cases, and that whoever they are, they are well-praised by Fowler and their home precinct. They’re supposed to be some sort of “negotiator”, Gavin hears, but he really couldn’t care less. He’s never done well with a partner, and Fowler had opted to let him work solo as long as he was getting the results.
The only person that could work well when partnered with Gavin was his best friend, Nines. They had been close friends growing up as neighbors, and even roomed together when they were both in police college. But then Nines transferred to Paramedics and no one else could tolerate Gavin’s weird habits and somewhat peculiar work ethics, and that had been the end of that.
It’s not really a secret that Gavin is a hard person to get along with. It wasn’t because he was an asshole, although some of his coworkers would beg to differ. It was simply because he hated human interactions. There is a reason he didn’t have much friends growing up, and Nines and Connor only stuck around at first because their backyards were connected. But over the years, he had learned to get along with the brothers, and in return they had accepted him—an only child—into their weird little brotherly bond.
(Once, Tina had even commented on how much he acts like a middle child, and Gavin had spluttered while denying it.)
Gavin was a fucking delight in the office, he could socialize and get along with his coworkers, but once he got home, he needed his space. There was something about being around people that was so emotionally draining. Sure, he was brash, hot headed, and often times spoke without thinking. But he was also ambitious, fucking amazing at his job, and is a lot smarter than he looks (that’s what Tina says, at least).
After finishing college, Nines had moved across the city with his younger brother, Connor, and Gavin had to suck it up and look for another roommate. There was simply no way he could afford rent when he was merely a rookie cop, barely scraping by to put food on the table and still pay off his student loans.
He went through roommates and apartments like he climbed the ranks at the Detroit Police Department, with a sense of righteousness and passion, whether from the need to get away from that one micromanaging roommate, or to prove himself as one of the youngest recruits. By the time he was 27, he had been promoted to Detective; one of the youngest Detectives in the DPD history. With the huge bonus he had received the year he got promoted as Detective, he put a down payment on a tiny little house in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. It had been foreclosed after a Red Ice lab had been found in the basement, and Gavin took it as a chance to get away from his batshit insane roommate who played the tuba at four in the morning.
Now sitting at his desk, sipping his coffee and aimlessly scrolling through the robbery report he was supposed to proofread, Gavin is awakened from a daze by some commotion at the front desk.
“Must be the new transfer,” Tina mused from her desk.
Gavin couldn’t make out the figure that walked into Fowler’s room, but he heard the Captain yelling for Anderson, and the Lieutenant sighing and making his way over. He was openly trying to get a peek, and everyone else at their desks were shamelessly cranking their necks to get a glimpse of the new transfer. Their precinct hasn’t had anyone new since Gavin joined years ago, and he was tried of being called the rookie even though he has had more promotions than some of the more senior employees.
“You think they’re gonna be an old geezer like Hank?” Gavin asks Chris, who had crawled on top of his desk to see past the stripes of blurred glass in Fowler’s office.
“Let me get a closer look,” Chris announces before he stood up on the desk, kicking away stray sheets of paper on the ground.
“Watch it,” Coraline mumbles quietly to the left.
The rest of the officers are all looking up at him expectantly.
“He looks young,” Chris says finally, and shrugs. “I can’t see much but he’s got a nice side profile.”
A round of murmurs and chatter erupts around the office. Yes, Gavin thinks to himself. The new rookie can take my spot at the bottom of the food chain. And he turns to Tina to tell her just that.
“Don’t think I’ll stop teasing you just because there’s someone new coming in,” she wags a finger at him.
“Please,” Alex rolls his eyes next to her. “He’s not a rookie, he’s just a new transfer.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Gavin says gleefully. “I’m still gonna haze fuck outta him.”
Then the doors to Fowler’s office opens. Anderson walks out, and the entire office holds their breath as the subject of their somewhat inappropriate gawking follows behind him.
“Introduce yourself or something, kid, I don’t know,” Anderson waves his hand in the general direction of the two dozen officers staring at them with doe eyes, staying perfectly still in their respective poses before the glass doors had opened, making absolutely zero effort to hide the fact that they were trying to listen in on the meeting.
“Um, hello guys,” the young man steps out from behind Anderson and cocks his head slightly to the side, flashing a shy and bashful smile. “My name is Connor, and I’m the negotiator sent to assist Lieutenant Anderson and this department with any android related homicides.”
“What the fuck,” Gavin says.
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“Gavin!” Connor’s face lights up, and his face breaks into a genuine smile.
Gavin’s heart skips a beat as Connor locks eyes with him. Even after all these years, Connor still hasn’t lost the boyish look to his face, and his golden caramel eyes are still as warm and sweet as Gavin remembers. His hair, looking so soft and inviting, and Gavin wants to ruffle his hair like he’d always do when they were kids—an excuse to ran his fingers through his hair.
Gavin feels his face flush as all the eyes turns to him, and Anderson’s eyebrows climbs to his hairline.
“You know this asshole?” Gavin rolls his eyes at him, but the Lieutenant is looking back at Connor, who is still giving Gavin that ridiculous dopey smile.
“Yeah,” Connor looks away finally. “He’s a close friend of my brother. We were neighbors growing up.”
“Oh shit,” Tina cuts in. “You knew Gavin when he was a kid?”
“Since we were in diapers,” Connor laughs.
“Oh boy,” she replies, smirking at Chris across the room. “You gotta tell us all the stupid shit he did when he was younger!”
Even Anderson laughs at that, and pats Connor on the back.
“Looks like you’re gonna fit right in, kid.”
Gavin groans and buries his face in his hands.